What’s stopping you from starting your business in 2020?

1 – Build a business for the long term 

I’ve spoken to enough people over my many years of business coaching and I hear the same frustrations oozing through their conversations – asking questions like – 

“What sort of business should I go into?”; How can I create a business so I don’t have to work for anybody else?”; “Who’s going to want to buy from my business?”… and the questions go on around the same core insecurity. 

The best advice I can give you it to encourage you to “look within” – what is it that you are really good at?  What do you think about most? What interests you?

Why do I say to start there… well having an attitude of doing something you love, and helping others will give you a freedom you never thought existed.  Build something for the long term – forget short term hits, quick fixes and let’s make money overnight – hit it an quit it mentality.  Otherwise you will end up right back in the same situation you started out with – working for other people – trading your time and chasing the illusive $.

In his book “The Barefoot Investor” Scott Pape shows you how to create an entire financial plan that is so simple you can sketch it on the back of a serviette … and you’ll be able to manage your money in 10 minutes a week. 

2 – Solve a problem for people

An important clue for new entrepreneurs is to create a business that solves a problem for people. The problem you solve doesn’t need to be complicated, It can be simple, like as we help people overcome being sedentary by providing an exercise routine or new activity experience.

But ultimately, you need to know what you’re trying to accomplish with your business.

If you do what you love while helping people achieve, you will
never work a day in your life…. Patricia Laverty

By knowing what problem you’re helping to solve, you can use that in your marketing to help people understand how you can coach them best. For example, if you sell weight-loss products, you’ll want your ad to show the frustration a person who is having trouble shedding those extra pounds. And then showcase your product as the helpful solution that’ll allow them to achieve their new desired healthy weight.

3 – It’s all about what your client or customer wants

One of the biggest causes of conflict in business comes from unfulfilled needs. If a client doesn’t get the service or product they were expecting, their needs won’t be met, and they’ll be disappointed.

Under promise and over deliver, ensure your client receives far more than they ever expected and they will stay with you for life…. Patricia Laverty

Focus on what they say and hear what is going on behind those words and body language.  Not everybody can express their intentions or feelings impeccably.  So it’s important to fully understand what’s going on so you can help them.

Avoid answering people’s questions before they are finished explaining the problem!
Listen, learn and understand before you attempt to give them the remedy.  Patricia Laverty

4 – Firstly Start with a tapered focus and then expand your vision

Amazon didn’t start as the everything store. It started as a humble bookstore. And they slowly expanded into games, toys, clothing and other products as they went on to expand their business.

That’s how you build a business. It would be highly unlikely that if I gave you the keys to run Amazon that you would be able to step in on day one and make it continue to be successful – You would be in massive overwhelm!

One of the key business guidelines is to always start with a tapered focus and expand into other products and services as you scale. It’s important to start to build your database, your list of loyal followers and clients who will not only invest with you, but recommend you to their circle of influence.

 5 – Avoid being a perfectionist – if it’s not quite ready – start anyway!

To finish off, my biggest tip for new wantrepreneurs is, just do it. And I don’t just mean starting it. I mean get out of your head, don’t let your thoughts cloud your head. Stop questioning whether you’re making the right call, and just do it. You will be starting off small anyway so you have a nice safety net around you.

Once you get your training wheels off…. You will be growing and expanding before you know it – but with confidence!

Business is like a bowl of jelly – it is always moving. Avoid being a perfectionist
it will only get in your way of success…. Patricia Laverty

Until next time
With Love and Gratitude
Patricia